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Data Center VRLA Battery

End-of-Life Recycling Procedures

White Paper 36
Revision 1

by Raymond Lizotte

Contents
> Executive summary Click on a section to jump to it

Introduction 2
Contrary to popular belief, the recycling of lead-acid
batteries, which are the most common batteries found Enlist a reputable battery 3
in data centers, is one of the most successful recycling disposal partner
systems that the world has ever seen. Reputable
battery manufacturers, suppliers, and recycling com- End-of-life options 4
panies have teamed up to establish a mature and highly
The role of the UPS supplier 4
efficient lead-acid battery recycling process. This
paper reviews battery end-of-life options and de- The battery recycling process 6
scribes how a reputable vendor can greatly facilitate
the safe disposal and recycling of VRLA lead-acid Conclusion 7
batteries.
Resources 8

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Data Center VRLA Battery End-of-Life Recycling Procedures

Introduction Data center professionals rely on lead-acid batteries as a reliable and cost effective energy
storage resource. However, some of the basic components of these batteries (e.g., lead,
sulfuric acid) are potentially toxic if mishandled. Data center owners risk stiff penalties if
these batteries are improperly disposed of. Fortunately, battery manufacturers, vendors, and
recyclers recognize that spent lead-acid batteries hold financial value and have greatly
facilitated their safe disposal.

Figure 1
Lead-acid battery
recycling process

Graphic courtesy of Battery Council International and accessed June 8, 2008


http://www.batterycouncil.org/LeadAcidBatteries/BatteryRecycling/tabid/71/Default.aspx

In fact, for the past two decades, lead acid batteries have topped the list of the most highly
recycled consumer products with recycling rates exceeding 95% (see Figure 1). This
compares to a recycling rate of 42% for all paper and a recycling rate of 52% for aluminum

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Data Center VRLA Battery End-of-Life Recycling Procedures

cans. 1 This white paper reviews how data center professionals and other consumers of
batteries can assure that the lead-acid batteries in their data centers are properly disposed of
and recycled.

The Electricity Storage Association (ESA) estimates that sales of industrial batteries, as might
be used in data center applications, amount to $5 billion each year. 2 Data center batteries
reside inside of cabinets, in racks on the data center floor, and even in separate dedicated
rooms. Over 97% of industrial batteries are of the lead-acid type. The batteries primarily
addressed in this paper are of the valve regulated lead-acid (VRLA) type, which are the most
common type of batteries found in data centers. Each year Schneider Electric purchases and
distributes more than 20 million kilograms (44, 092,452 lbs) of batteries.

Batteries are regulated at the local, state, federal, and international levels, and a myriad of
compliance legislation exists that must be adhered to. Fortunately, data center professionals
don’t need to concern themselves with the risk, cost, and complexity of the battery disposal
issue if they involve legitimate partners when retiring spent batteries.

Figure 2
Stiff penalties exist for
improper disposal of lead-
acid batteries

Enlist a reputable Data center owners should avoid self disposal of batteries. Simply throwing out a spent lead-
acid battery is illegal and environmentally irresponsible. Furthermore, when selecting a
battery disposal partner to dispose of lead acid batteries (e.g. a battery manufacturer, a UPS vendor, a
partner recycler), the data center owner needs to be somewhat careful with whom they entrust their
batteries. Safe disposal of lead can be costly and lead-acid battery recycling requires strong
measures which take into account occupational safety and stringent environmental controls.
Unfortunately, unscrupulous brokers have been known to send battery scrap to poorer
countries with non-existent occupational safety and environmental regulations.
Most mainstream UPS vendors have established positive reputations over the years when it
comes to proper battery disposal. Many of their customers return spent batteries and the
vendor is able to send large quantities of batteries to certified smelting and recycling facilities.
Some smaller UPS vendors, however, do not allow for battery removal when they design their
products. The batteries are sealed in the unit without any battery doors to allow for battery
replacement. This makes it difficult for anyone to extract the battery for proper disposal
purposes. In addition, the owner of the equipment may not even realize that the metal boxes
contain lead-acid batteries and may unknowingly dispose of the materials improperly.

1
http://www.batterycouncil.org/LeadAcidBatteries/BatteryRecycling/tabid/71/Default.aspx accessed
March 18, 2010
2
http://www.electricitystorage.org/technologies_applications.htm accessed March 18, 2010

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Data Center VRLA Battery End-of-Life Recycling Procedures

Batteries in data center UPS applications can be single batteries, shelves containing inter-
connected single batteries, battery cartridges containing multiple batteries in a single
container, or shelves containing interconnected battery cartridges (see Figure 3).

Figure 3
Examples of data center
and UPS battery cartridges

End-of-life In almost all cases, a battery reaches end-of-life without incident. Such a battery is consi-
dered “intact”. Intact batteries are no more dangerous than other data center equipment
options when handled correctly. When small quantities of intact batteries are sent for reclamation,
the rules in North America that apply to hazardous material transportation and disposal are
typically relaxed. Therefore, both new and spent batteries that are intact can be shipped as
long as the battery is packaged such that the termination can’t cause a short. In Europe, an
intact spent battery is considered hazardous waste and must be treated as such according to
national regulations.

Occasionally, a battery experiences stresses that can cause the case to swell, crack, or lose
a cap. Batteries in this condition are considered “damaged”. These damaged batteries are
subject to more stringent regulations than are “intact” batteries. Damaged batteries pose the
risk of hazardous material release. Data center professionals and other consumers with
damaged batteries should consult a regulatory expert (such as the Office of Hazardous
Materials Safety) immediately for instructions on proper transportation and disposal.

In the United States, the lead-acid battery recycling system is considered one of the most
successful examples of product recycling. Data centers can generate thousands of pounds
of waste batteries while a household consumer may have only the single battery to contend
with. Regardless of quantity, all battery owners have to ensure environmentally safe disposal
of their batteries. The UPS manufacturers are uniquely positioned to assist data center
professionals and consumers in performing this disposal function.

The role of the UPS manufacturers, like Schneider Electric, offer data center professionals and consumers
with intact spent batteries a wide range of end-of-life options that are cost effective and easy
UPS supplier to implement. The option chosen depends upon the unique situation of the battery owner
(see Figure 4).

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Data Center VRLA Battery End-of-Life Recycling Procedures

Whole Unit Old UPS and battery shipped to UPS supplier


Replacement and recycled at no cost to battery owner

END-OF-LIFE OPTIONS
Spent battery shipped to UPS supplier and
Figure 4 Battery recycled at no cost to battery owner
Replacement
Battery end-of-life options
UPS manufacturer arranges for convenient
Manufacturer return of UPSs and batteries for recycling
Take-Back at nominal or no cost.

Owner Lead-acid batteries should never be


Self-Disposal discarded in the trash or in a dumpster.

When the battery owner deems that the entire UPS unit (and not just the battery) requires
replacement, many UPS manufacturers, such as Schneider Electric, will offer incentive
programs that include free shipping and free disposal of both UPS waste equipment and
batteries when the owner purchases a new UPS system. The Schneider Electric-specific
program is called Trade-UPS and allows the customer to acquire a new system at a dis-
counted price (see link for more details).

If only a replacement battery is needed, Schneider Electric provides free recycling to


customers when new replacement batteries are purchased. In the case of new replacement
batteries and the UPS Trade-UPSs program, Schneider Electric includes prepaid postage.
The postage tag can be used in conjunction with the existing new replacement battery or
UPS box to ship the spent, intact battery to a qualified recycler (if the battery weighs less
than 125 lbs / 56.7 kg). The battery owner is given clear guidance and instruction regarding
how to handle and package the spent battery for safe transport.

As a battery distributor, Schneider Electric has created or participated in collection programs


that provide customers with designated collection points as a means to drop off their spent
batteries. For the bigger 3-phase batteries (this includes both VRLA and flooded / vented
batteries) Schneider Electric either refers the user to the battery manufacturer or partners
with the battery manufacturer to provide battery end-of-life services.

Three types of collection programs are offered by battery manufacturers and distributors:

1. The battery manufacturers and distributors retain a battery recycler to collect and
recycle batteries generated by their customers within a specific jurisdiction. For ex-
ample, Schneider Electric has retained recycling companies in North American and in
each European Union country to provide recycling services to North American and Eu-
ropean customers. When a customer in these countries requires battery recycling,
Schneider Electric refers them to the battery recycler designated for their country.
2. A third-party designated by the manufacturer / distributor is responsible for collec-
tion in order to broaden the scope of collection within a specific jurisdiction. For ex-
ample, the U.S. retailer Staples allows customers to drop off waste electronics at any
of their 1,500 locations for a nominal fee. These third-party collection programs typi-
cally provide more drop off locations, which simplifies the task of recycling electronics
and batteries.
3. A trade association such as the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association (PRBA)
runs a collection program. This trade association provides members with far reaching

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Data Center VRLA Battery End-of-Life Recycling Procedures

collection and recycling opportunities. The PRBA’s Commercial Small Sealed Lead
Acid (SSLA) Battery Collection Program, for example, allows battery owners, through
its network of 60,000 participating facilities, to drop off, free of charge, any spend bat-
tery weighing up to 25 lbs (11.3 kg). PRBA then coordinates with recycling organiza-
tions to have the batteries properly recycled.

If battery owners choose to dispose of the batteries themselves, options are still available
that result in spent batteries being collected for recycling. Lead-acid batteries have been
determined to be unsuitable for disposal as municipal solid waste because they contain toxic
heavy metals, plastics and battery acid with corrosive properties. A typical lead-acid battery
contains about 21 lbs (9.5 kg) of lead, three pounds of plastic, and one gallon of sulfuric acid.
These items can be toxic if handled improperly.

In the U.S., many municipalities operate hazardous waste collection centers or hold hazard-
ous waste collection events where owners of spent batteries can drop them off. Schneider
Electric provides municipalities with expertise and guidance on managing lead-acid batteries
at their collection events. With the mature recycling infrastructure available, spent lead-acid
batteries should never end up improperly discarded.

The battery The first step of the battery recycling process is determining if the spent battery is “intact” or
“damaged”. This determination ultimately doesn’t affect the recycling process – intact and
recycling damaged batteries are recycled in the same way. Damaged batteries are subject to stringent
process regulations that control their handling, packaging and shipment and should be sent directly to
the battery recycler.

Intact batteries undergo an evaluation upon collection to determine if the batteries are
suitable for reuse. Larger UPSs utilize batteries that are encased in cartridges (referred to at
Schneider Electric as replacement battery cartridges or RBCs) that are capable of holding
multiple batteries (see Figure 3). It is not unusual for an RBC to fail because only a few of
the individual batteries within the cartridge are spent. The other batteries inside may function
quite well. In these cases, a battery refurbishing company would then take apart the RBC,
analyze the individual batteries and, if an individual battery is good, designate that battery as
functional and offer it for resale on the secondary market.

Once the spent batteries are received by the battery recycler– typically a secondary lead
smelter – the recycling process begins in earnest. First the batteries are crushed into nickel-
sized pieces. The plastic components are then separated out as are the lead components.
This plastic is sent to a plastics processing plant for manufacture into new plastic products,
most of which are casings for new batteries. Battery plastic tends to be the same plastic that
has been recycled over and over again (see Figure 1).

The lead, which is a fairly valuable metal, is sent to a smelter where it is converted into lead
ingots. The smelter has scrubbers and filters that capture any non-lead materials. The
gaseous components of sulfuric acid go up flues where they are cooled and condensed and
then filtered into a pure enough form to be resold. Some of the smelter organizations sell the
sulfuric acid as a commodity.

The price of lead often determines whether a spent battery cartridge furthers its life as a
refurbished battery on the secondary market or if its life ends in a lead smelter. When the
price of lead is high almost all batteries go the smelting route. When lead prices shift lower,
instances of reuse become more common.

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Data Center VRLA Battery End-of-Life Recycling Procedures

Conclusion The lead-acid battery recycling system is almost an ecological closed loop. Polypropylene is
recycled into more battery plastic. The sulfuric acid is collected and resold as commodity
acid. The lead is smelted and returned back to batteries or applied to other uses of lead.

The recycling of batteries is highly regulated at the local, state, national, and international
levels. Fortunately, data center owners are not required to be familiar with the large volume of
regulations involved. By partnering with a reputable UPS supplier or battery manufacturer,
most battery owners can safely dispose of their spent batteries free of charge.

About the author


Raymond Lizotte is a Senior Environmental Engineer within the Schneider Electric
Environmental Stewardship Office. He directs the company’s efforts to develop products that
conform to emerging product focused rules, such as the European Restrictions on Hazard-
ous Substances in Electronics (RoHS) directive. He has been involved in environmental
product design for the past 20 years. Ray studied environmental engineering at MIT where
he graduated with a BS in 1985.

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Data Center VRLA Battery End-of-Life Recycling Procedures

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Schneider Electric – Data Center Science Center White Paper 36 Rev 1 8

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